Tag: Training

Hello? Lexi Callin’

Published on by Service Cats U.S.42 Comments

Well it’s anudder borin’ Monday. Seems most peeps don’t like Mondays whevver they have to get up and go to work or not. Me has offen wunnewed ifin Monday was a weekend day and Tuesday was da day everypawdy had to stawrt their work week, ifin Tuesday wuld become da day nopawdy liked? Well enuff of meez days of da week musings and onto meez posty. In our last twainin’ posty sis Lexi told you ‘bout her learnin’ to help mommy in da shower. Mommy can be a little stubborn and she dusn’t always take outside help too well. Me sed dat cuz there was several mentions of a shower chair.  Mommy didn’t have one back then cuz she didn’t wanna admit she wasn’t gunna get better. We do have a shower chair and a shower bench now, so mommy dusn’t have to fall dat fawr anymore. Anyways, me fawt me wuld ask sis Lexi to tell ‘bout hers fone twainin’ today and she’s gwaciously accepted da invite. So meez gunna turn it over to sissy now.

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Fanks Dezi. I guess I shuld say dat mommy hadn’t planned on me stayin’ wiff her in da beginnin’ so she didn’t start trainin’ me as yung as Lucky or those dat followed. And altho’ I’z a quick lerner, I had been watchin’ da boys help mommy in da shower since my eyes opened. And as we stated in da beginnin’, da trainin’ story I told ‘bout lernin’ to help mommy wasn’t da furst or last trainin’ episode fur dat purrticular task. So onto todays topic.

 

As I grew and put on weight the day came when mommy knew I was big enuff to learn how to call fur help and bring mommy da fone. I so lubbed bein’ wiff mommy and sittin’ in her lap dat I kuld almost always be found there when she was sittin’ down. So when da time came fur me to learn to dial da fone, mommy didn’t have to look very far to find me. Back then we had a corded fone and a kupple cordless fones. Da corded fone sat beside mommys chair and da cordless ones was in da bedroom and da kitchen. Da corded fone was da same one Shad had taught herselff to use so mommy decided dat was da bestest fone to train me on.

 

dw Lexifone
Yep Datz me and datz da fone.

Da fone had a big long button to press fur da speakerfone. Mommy took my paw and gently pushed it on da button and a loud purr came outta da corded box. Mommy gently pushed my paw back down and da purr went away. Then she lubbed on me and hugged and kissed me and told me how wunnerful and smart I was, and how much she lubbed me. This went on fur a while till I wuld push da loud purr button on my own. I was so ‘cited I lubbed makin’ mommy happy. And she sure seemed happy wiff me pushin’ dat button. But parently I wasn’t finished cuz then she started gently pressin’ my paws on sum of da smaller buttons. Da same buttons over and over and over. Da loud purr wuld disappear when I wuld push da smaller buttons. But mommy seemed just as happy wiff me. I just had to learn how to do this. Mommy was so ‘cited evrytime we wuld finish pushin’ those buttons. And then it happened…Mommy patted da fone and I pushed all da buttons myselff. Mommy was thrilled and praised me a lot. There was purrin’ and cooin’ and hugs and kisses all round.

 

So mommy sed it was time fur da final test. Mommy pushed sum buttons and talked to sumone on da udder end and then hung up and patted da fone again. Dat was my cue to start pushin’ buttoons. I began to push buttons and suddenly their was a voice on da udder end I didn’t recognize. I had seen and heard da boys meowin’ at da corded box (fone) when voices wuld come out of it, so I meowed at it too. And then I looked att mommy who seemed so happy. She hugged me and fanked me and told me how smart I was and how much she lubbed me. WooHoo I had dun it!!! We repeated this purrocess over and over and over again till I wuld do it right everytime. Mommy sez dat’s why it’s called trainin’. It ain’t a once and dun. Anyways, da next lessoon I learned was to bring mommy da fone when she kuldn’t get to it but needed it. Mommy hasn’t been able to move in da meownins fur quite a long time. But sissy sez we need to wrap it up fur da day, so I will leave ya’ wiff this…kitties be far smarter and more trainable than peeps realize.

 dw-Lexibed

Fanks fur telliin’ us ‘bout yous fone twainin’ sissy. Hopefully we will pick up where yous left off in our next posty. Me also wants to wemind everypawdy dat weez got a give away goin’ on wight now, so click here to enter to win da PetSafe FroliCat Pounce. It’s open to all U.S. residents fwu Furiday 7/31/15 at 11:59 p.m. CST.

 

Till da next time……………….Be Blest!!!

 

Dezi = Blue

Lexi = Green

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

 

Dezi and Lexi

cat-animated

Dezi Really Loves the Phone

Published on by Service Cats U.S.34 Comments

So meez told you ‘bout me alertin’ mommy afur she passes out and ‘bout me learnin’ da awrt of massage. And sumpawdy sent us an email and asked how long afur mommy passes out did me alert her. They was a little concerned ‘bout hers dwivin’. We must pawlogize cuz dat be sumfin’ we normally include when tellin’ ‘bout me but this time we just furgot. Me alerts ‘bout 20 – 30 minutes afur mommy passes out. Purrlenty of time fur her to get sum where to sit down or pull over ifin she’s actually dwivin’, so she can be safe. Mommy wuld never wanna be wespawnsible fur causin’ sumpawdy else to have to live like she duz. There awe days when mommy be passin’ out “more” than “normal” and on those days, she won’t dwive at all cuz she dusn’t twust hers selff. Since we be alone and don’t have anypawdy to help us, it’s necessary fur mommy to continue to drive. But twust me, mommy takes gweat care when she duz. So fanks fur askin’ and we hope we cleared dat up fur ya’. We also got an email askin’ ifin mommy had any fotos dat showed meez size compared to Lexi back then. Mommy be panicin’ cuz she can’t find our fotos. Back then weez only had a 35mm camewa so everyfin’ was purrinted and she hadn’t had a chance to get them all put onto da puter. So me knows what she’s gunna be duin’ this weekend. Anyways, here’s da only foto we did have on da puter to show a size comparison.

 

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Me was ’bout 8 weeks old here and had grown a bit fwum da time me had come to live wiff mommy and sissy.

As me stawrted gwoin’ and getting’ bigger and heavier mommy continued to teach me to push da fone buttons and meow at peeps on da udder end. PURRLEASE MEMBER it’s illegal to call 911 ifin yous not have an actual mergency. So ifin yous plan on twainin’ yous anipal to dial da fone…UNPLUG IT furst. Mommy also had to contact da fone company and fill out a cawd wiff instwuctions dat be attached to our nummer dat tells da 911 operator to send help ifin she/he gets a call fwum our nummer wiff kitties meowin’. You might check wiff yous fone company to see ifin they have sumfin’ similar. This applies to land lines only! Cell fones awe a whole diffewent “animal”. We don’t use a cell fone so weez not know da rules or purrcedures.

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All dat twainin’ wiff da fone made me weally like it. You can talk to peeps fwum anywhere. Is dat not amazin’? And me luvs carryin’ da fone to mommy. So much so dat in da beginnin’ me made a lot of oopsies. As soon as meez paws kuld push da buttons down me wuld answer da fone everytime it rang. Or at least twy to. Mommy got purretty quick at gwabbin’ it so me kuldn’t push da button. She sed there awe sum peeps dat need to leave messages and there awe sumtimes she dusn’t wanna talk on da fone. Me just kuldn’t unnewstand why she didn’t wanna talk everytime sumpawdy called. So much so dat everytime da fone rang and mommy wasn’t near it, me wuld gwab it and push da button and most of da time me wuld dwag it to wherever mommy was. Which leads me to todays stowry.

 dw DnLsleeping

Me was ‘bout 6 or 7 mumffs old and was able to push da buttons and dwag da fone. Mommy puts da belt loop holder on da handsets and me can gwab dat wiff meez mouff and carry it. Anyways this one afternoon we was all in da pawdee box room and mommy was…well you know, she was indisposed. And da fone stawrted ringin’. (There awe sum nummers dat mommy has assigned a specific ring to so she knows who be callin’ just by hearin’ da fone ring.) So mommy knew zactly who was callin’ when da fone stawrted up, and me headed fur it. And mommy stawrted to holler, “Dezi, leave the phone alone. Dezi!!! Don’t touch that phone!!! Dezi, don’t you dare push that button. No baby, leave the phone where it is.”

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Well me kuld plainly see dat mommy kuldn’t get to da phone and so me weally did fink me was bein’ helpful. Me had alweady pushed da button so da purrson on da udder end kuld hear everyfin’ dat was goin’ on, and me was half way to mommy when she yelled one last time. “Dezi, Drop That Phone!!!” So me dwopped da fone wight there in da floor and headed back to da pawdee box room to be wiff mommy and sis Lexi. Mommy sez fankfully da purrson on da udder end hung up cuz it was our neighbor Mr. W. (sissy and me don’t weally like Mr. W so ifin hims had sed anyfin’ while me was carryin’ da fone me wuld have dwopped it to hiss at him.) MOL Mommy sed me still needed lots of twainin’, cuz me was posed to lissen and leave da fone alone ifin she told me too. Well, weez’ll see was meez answer to mommys more twainin’ statement. Me finks weez’ll wrap fur today and tell ya’ more next time.

 

dw-4009 Dezi PHfone
Not weally. Me nor sissy calls up da Pizza Hut. Me just wanted to make you all smile and have a good day.

Don’t furget to enter our give away fur dat pawsum PetSafe FroliCat Flik toy. Yous can do so here. It’s open to all U.S, residents and you have till 11:59 p.m. CST Furiday 7/24/15 to enter. We have more pawsum give aways comin’ up so be sure yous followin’ us by email so yous not miss anyfin’.

 

Till da next time…………………Be Blest!!!

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

 

Dezi and Lexi

cat-animated

Dezi Learns the Art of Massage

Published on by Service Cats U.S.60 Comments

So me was a tiny little girly and as is offen da case wiff rescues me was a little sickly. So meez only real job fur mommy fur a good long time was to alert her afur she passed out. Dat’s not to say dat she wasn’t actively twyin’ to twain me to do udder fings, me just wasn’t weally big nuff. Me weally fawt da fone was cool but meez paws wasn’t stwong enuff to push da buttons. Mommy wuld put meez paws on da nummers but me just kuldn’t push ‘em down. But there was anudder fing me kuld do. Since me was taken fwum meez mommy afur me was weaned me weally liked to “make biscuits”. All us kitties do but those of us taken too yung do it all da time to everyfin’. And meez favowit place to be was mommys lap, kneadin’ hers tummy and legs. Altho’ mommy dusn’t weally need tummy massages, she sez they did feel good, but when me wuld deviate fwum hers legs or awms, she wuld wedirect me. Me also liked to be up high as you saw fwum meez foto Fursday so mommy wuld move me to hers shoulders and help me knead hers shoulders and head.

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Help me yous say? Well like me sed all kitties knead sumtimes and you can direct dat behavior to happen when and where yous want it. Dat’s called twainin’. When me was on mommys shoulders she wuld coo at me which wuld turn on meez motor boat (purr) and get meez paws to workin’. Mommy wuld tell me how much she liked dat and how wunnewful me was and me wuld purr da louder and knead da more. Since me was so tiny me kuldn’t push very hawrd so there was no deep tissue massages like sis Lexi duz, but me was learnin’. And mommy sez dat’s what counts. Even tho’ me wasn’t makin’ a big diffewence at da time, me was learnin’ where to massage and to do it when mommy wanted me too. These were all lessons fur da day me was bigger and what me did mattered.

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Since me luvved to be wiff mommy and sit in hers lap, she wuld let me lissen to peeps on da udder end of da fone. And mommy wuld coo at me till I wuld “talk” meow to them a little. Me just fawt it was fun, but mommy was twainin’ me fur da day when me kuld push da nummers and wuld need to meow when da mergency peeps picked up. It all helped me not to be fwaid of da fone or da voices on da udder end dat me didn’t wecognize. And me wuld watch sis Lexi and sumtimes me wuld twy to mimic her and da fings she did. Mommy sez havin’ a second alweady twained Service cat is very helpful. Cuz even when da untwained kitty not be big enuff to do sum fings, they be learnin’ by watchin’. And dat makes twainin’ in da future dat much easier.

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Now me knows dat you all wunnew ifin weez work 24/7. And da answer is…sort of. Weez always “on call”. Meanin’ ifin mommy needs us or ifin me senses hers gunna pass out, then we immediately stop whatever we be duin’ and help mommy. But as you can see fwum todays fotos, we play too. Mommy sez we work hawd and deserve to play hawd too. So we have purrlenty of toys dat have nuffin’ to do wiff Service animal twainin’. Course mommy also sez toys can be a gweat help in teachin’ too. Toys like da Pet Safe FroliCat Flik awe not only good fur honin’ our feline hunting skills, they’re also good at twainin’ us to turn on fings wiff buttons and carry stuff dat be bigger. Now weez not tellin’ ya’ dat ifin yous get yous own FroliCat Flik yous kitty’s gunna be a Service cat, but we can say dat they will have lots of fun,

 

Ifin you can’t see da video, purrlease click here.

As wiff all da PetSafe purroducts we have da FroliCat Flik is well made and will stand up against normal kitty play and even a little more aggwessive kitty play as you kuld see in meez video. It’s made of sturdy plasctic and da stwing be a soft fabwic so it won’t hurt yous kitty ifin it hits ‘em. (mommy used to fink it was like a weed whacker stwing) It runs on 3 AA batteries (not included) and has an automatic shut off after 15 minutes. Or you can manually turn it off usin’ da same button you used to turn it on. It also has rubber feet to help keep it from sliding ifin yous use it on a bare floor. Da stwing flings and hides to capture yous kitties attention and mimic da chase and ketch. As you kuld see fwum meez video, me likes to ketch and take away. MOL

 

dw4441Flik
Where’s dat on button?

Da wunnewful peeps at PetSafe awe lettin’ me give one lucky U.S. kitty their very own FroliCat Flik. We know you want one. To Enter tween now and Furiday at 11:59 p.m. CST all you have to do is:

 

1. comment and tell me what yous favowit type of toy is

 

2. share meez posty or pin a foto.

 

Weez not want anypawdy to be left out dat wants to enter, so ifin yous have twubble commentin’ or awe not on any social media sites, purrlease send us an email and weez’ll see what we can do so you can enter.

 

dw4442Flik
Where is dat on button?!

Till da next time………………..Be Blest!!!

 

Ifin yous missed any of our recent Service Animal posts you can view them here:

What’s the Big Deal pt. 1

What’s the Big Deal pt. 2

Shad the First Service Kitty

That Chair Moves

What’s That Smell?

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

 

Dezi and Lexi

cat-animated

 

Disclaimer: We received the FroliCat Flik furee fur our honest opinion. PetSafe is not responsible fur da opinions expwessed here. And as always we only bwing you purroducts we have twied or use and fink wuld be of interest to you.

Shad: The First Service Kitty

Published on by Service Cats U.S.64 Comments

Well definitions awe behind us now and weez movin’ on. Meez been thinkin’ long and hard ‘bout what stowry to tell next. And weez been readin’ da comments and me thought ‘bout it and decided we needed to stawrt at da beginin’. Back befur me and even sis Lexi. Back to a time when mommy furst had hers accident. Mommy. Lexi and me talked ‘bout it and decided you needed to unnerstand how it all began to unnerstand how we got to where we are now. Those of you who followed our bloggy back when we furst stawrted have already read this stowry, but we have lots of furiends now who wasn’t with us then so weez hope yous all enjoy da look back.

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Lots of years ago afur mommy’s accident hers had a beautiful white Persian kitty named Shad. They were really close as they had been thru lots together. Mommy had gone back to school and her and Shad lived together alone. Then one day mommy had a car wreck dat left her disabled. Among many of hers purroblems, she passed out. Sometimes mommy would just lose consciousness outta da blue.  And then there was actions or surroundings dat could cause her to pass out. She always got a little warnin’, but it still happened. After passin’ out at school and in da shoppin’ center, mommy’s doctors stawrted talkin’ to hers bout lookin’ into a Service dog.

 

Mommy likes doggy’s fine but hers had a kitty cat and lived in a small pawrtment and couldn’t hardly afford to feed Shad and herself. Mommy just didn’t think a  doggy was very feasible fur her. So mommy just kept trudgin’ on and tryin’ to make it.  Now Shad had always been very clever, And back in those days fones wus big and had answerin’ machines dat recorded to a tape and played aloud fur everypawdy in da room to hear. When mommy wusn’t home and sumpawdy dat Shad knew would call, she’s would paw at da fone til she’s hit da speaker fone button and then try to talk to them. More than once mommy came home to half messages and da fone off da hook.  Mommy thought it wus cute so hers didn’t worry ’bout it too much specially since Shad only did it wiff people she knew.

 

SHAD, Mommy's Original Service Cat
SHAD, Mommy’s Original Service Cat

So one day mommy was makin’ some dinner and hers passed out and hit hers head on da corner of da desk. Mommy is very tall and da floor is a long way down.  MOL Anyway when mommy came too hers heard sumpawdy bangin’ on da door hollerin’… POLICE. Mommy got up and answered da door and there stood a very nice policeman askin’ ifin she’s was alright. Mommy told him hers was fine and asked why he was there?. He told mommy dat da police had received a 911 call from hers address. Mommy told him hers had been unconscious and she’s hadn’t called 911. He asked ifin anypawdy else coulda called, and mommy told him dat she’s lived alone. So hims called into dispatch and they told him dat all they heard was a cat meowin’ on da other end of da line. So he’s asked mommy ifin hers had a kitty cat and ifin was pawssible dat da kitty called 911. You’s know is a crime to call 911 ifin you’s don’t have an emergency. Mommy told him of course she had a cat but she didn’t see how Shad coulda called 911 cuz she hadn’t been trained fur anythin’ like dat. At da time mommy didn’t know anythin ’bout Service animals other than seein’ eye dogs herself. Hers doctors hadn’t been very specific ’bout what kinda help she was gunna get fwom a Service dog when they had suggested it. Da nice police officer came in and checked everyfin’ ovrw and then he left only to be called back out a few days later.

 

So dis time he asked mommy ifin they could try to recreate what happened. Cuz da 911 call had a kitty vewy frantically and loudly meowin’ into da fone and then da meowin’ wuld get faint and could barely be heard in da background. And then very loud again and then very faint. So mommy agreed to try to recreate it and da officer left after callin’ dispatch and tellin’ ’em what they were gunna do and settin’ up a small camera.  (mommy had no digital camera or video camera at da time) A little later da plan was set into motion. And mommy watched thru squinted eyes as Shad ran to da fone and pawed at it til she’s hit da speaker fone and got a dial tone. Then she would paw da numbers on da fone til a voice answered and said, “911 what is your emergency??” Shad would begin to meow and meow and then run to mommy meowin’ da whole time. Hers would paw mommy’s face and then run back to da fone and meow into da speaker and then run back to mommy again. She’s did dis 4 times and then laid down beside mommy and waited.

Crossing Over Shad - 2HEoW-14V - normal

Mommy never knew how Shad had figgered out what to do or even why, but dat was da beginin’ of mommy’s trainin’ and unnerstandin’ dat we kitties could be trained to do things other than not scratch da furniture. Shad went on to twain herself to do many more things fur mommy befur she went to heaven. And mommy has picked up where they left off and trained da kitties dat followed her includin’ sis Lexi and me. Mommy has always made certain she has a fone system in da house with a speaker fone and an answerin’ machine dat everypawdy in da room can hear. We cats awe naturally drawn to voices we recognize and it makes trainin’ much easier ifin your kitty be interested in da thing you want them to do.

 Corded landline cordless phone

 

Disclaimer: Kitties who train as service animals are not purrfurmin’ tricks. Our trainin’ stories awe not meant to be a compurrhensive trainin’ manual but rather excerpts fwom hours and months of trainin’ fur yous readin’ enjoyment. Ifin yous have specific questions regardin’ trainin’ yous can email us via our contact page and mommy will be happy to try to assist you. Purrlease stay tuned fur Service Animal trainin’ wiff Lexi and me.

 0dw Dezi in wheelchair1

Till da next time…………….Be Blest!!!

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

 

Dezi and Lexi

cat-animated